this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at four: president trump calls himself a "very stable genius" and the us secretary of state says he's never questioned mr trump's mental health. i've never questioned his mental fitness. i have no reason to question his mental fitness. an overhaul of the parole system over the release attackerjohn worboys is demanded by the victims‘ commissioner. new figures reveal women earn at least 15% less than men — at a number of major companies. also in the next hour: america's deadly freeze, as the north—east coast shivers. record—breaking low temperatures of minus a0 degrees celsius are expected. at least 19 people have died since a powerful blizzard hit much of the region on thursday. plus the dateline london panel analyse the situation in iran and the damage to president trump by the publication of that book. that's in half an hour, here on bbc news.

good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. president trump has rejected suggestions by the author of a controversial new book that he is mentally unfit for the white house. in a series of tweets, mr trump called himself a ‘very stable genius.‘ and he said his two greatest assets in life had been his mental stability and being smart. it follows the publication of a book by michael wolff that said many of the president‘s staff view the president as childlike. jessica parker reports. boarding a flight to camp david for high—level meetings,

and here‘s the image trump‘s team is trying to project — order, professionalism, control. getting on with the job of running the most powerful country in the world. but it‘s all being overshadowed by this book, its contents forcing the us secretary of state into a remarkable statement. i‘ve never questioned his mental fitness, i have no reason to question his mentalfitness. we have different management styles. how i make decisions, how i process information, i have to learn how he takes information in and processes it and makes decisions. and now the president himself has tweeted: so, why has the president of the united states had to assert his

own mental competence? fire and fury quotes trump‘s former chief strategist steve bannon, the man credited with getting trump elected. he is cited as describing a meeting between a russian lawyer and mr trump‘s son donald junior as "treasonous." it‘s one of many supposed revelations painting a picture of a chaotic white house. a claim also that white house staff saw president trump as a child. they all come to the conclusion, gradually at first then faster and faster, that something was unbelievably amiss here, that this was more peculiar than they ever imagined it could be. but the president, as ever, has offered up a robust response overnight, tweeting: but no matter what words come from

president trump, he will likely struggle to drown out these volumes. jessica parker, bbc news. well, our correspondent in washington, david willis, told me about the reaction there to these claims. it is extraordinary, as you say. it is distressing, i think, for a senior republican leaders, who are meeting with the president at camp david today to discuss the legislative agenda. they were hoping that the headlines would be full of talk about welfare reform, infrastructure, spending, overhaul and that sort of thing. instead, we have these claims that the president is unfit for office, based on, emanating from, a book by an american journalist, michael wolff. that has prompted president trump to once again lash out on twitter.

this morning, he took to his favoured medium of communication to say: throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being really smart. i went from successful business that went to tv star to president of the united states on my first try. i think that would qualify as not smart but genius, and a very stable genius at that. there are those who would argue that just by leaving all this alone and not dignifying it with this response, that might clear the air and it might die down. the book, have you read it? what sort of reaction has there been? i have read extracts, as many people here have. it is on sale now, and there have been long queues at certain book stores with people anxious to get

their hands on it, despite the extraordinarily cold conditions here. it contains a lot of extremely damaging claims as far as the president is concerned, claims that basically all the people around, one by one, came to the same conclusion, that this was a man who was not fit to hold the office of president of the united states. and we have had sight of one of president trump‘s most senior lieutenants, rex tillerson, wheeled out on at least one of the cable tv channels to defend the mental acuity of the leader of the free world. it‘s not the sort of start to the new year that senior republicans gathering now at camp david had been hoping for. david willis there, in washington.

a lawyer who represented victims of the serial sex offender john worboys says some of her clients, whose cases weren‘t taken to trial, want prosecutors to re—examine the evidence. worboys, a former black—cab driver, is being freed after serving ten years in jail. he was convicted of 19 offences, although at the time police said they believe he attacked more than 100 women. tom burridge reports. the decision to release rapist john worboys has raised profound questions about the way sexual crimes against women are investigated and whether the procedures for releasing criminals need changing. worboys picked up young women in his black cab. he duped and drugged them and then carried out his attacks. he was convicted of 19 offences in 2009 and given an indefinite sentence. in total, more than 100 women said worboys tried to drug and assault them. allegations made by some women were investigated but not

pursued at the time. now calls that their evidence should be considered again. i think women just wantjustice and want their voices to be heard. they came forward and gave their statements to police, the cps said, don‘t worry, we won‘t prosecute in relation to your case because he will be in prison for a long time and given an indeterminate sentence and will be locked away. they now want their case given the proper scrutiny it deserves, and for there to be a decision made as to whether the prosecution will be brought in their cases. under law, we cannot know why the parole board has decided worboys no longer poses a risk to the public, but many argue the system should change so his victims know why he is being released. tom burridge, bbc news. earlier shaun ley spoke to baroness helen newlove, the victims‘ commissioner for england and wales. she‘s spoken to thejustice

secretary and told him he needs to look again at legislation so victims don‘t feel excluded from the parole process. when you go for an appeal hearing, there is a judgment that‘s in the public domain, and i have been asking that parole boards should give a similarjudgment so that there is that open transparency, because it is very much a very closed hearing. victims can go and give their statement to a parole hearing, or they can do video link, and we just then wait for this letter 01’ this telephone call to notify of the decision that has been made. so, i just think this time is right, and if the government need to change the law, they need to change the law so that it is open and transparent and no longer is it a closed decision. on this question of the victim contact scheme, a number of people complained that they had no idea that worboys was facing parole until basically they heard it on the news or saw it on the news.

the parole board has then turned round and said, look, that may be the case, but everybody who has been recorded as a victim will be told, look, we can keep in contact with you however you want to do it, whether that‘s by post, e—mail or telephone. in some cases, they have said by post, and maybe the letters have arrived, possibly people have changed address. in other cases, people have chosen not to be contacted. presumably, these are quite real issues in terms of dealing with victims. these are real issues, and notjust with this case. there are many victims who write in and i have been working on this with probation. it‘s not as simple as that. when you are introduced and ask to go on the victim contact scheme, it comes at the most rawest time, and for me, we need to look at how we better engage with victims to allow them the time to reflect, and to allow them then to engage with probation officers, to say, i would like that. and if they do get involved, well, we have got to check on their postal addresses,

check that they are updated. you can‘t just then, maybe six years down the line, pop up an address and they may have moved and there are circumstances become completely different. and it is very, very... it is a raw area. you are kind of picking the scab off again. so, we have to get better at how the victim contact scheme engages. i‘d prefer an opt out, not in, so then we don‘t lose that information. as i say, this review, and i spoke to the secretary of state last night, we have got to look at the victim contact scheme as well as the parole board and the decisions they make. and if legislation needs to be changed, we need to do that, and i‘ll work very closely with nick. but also, with probation with the victim contact scheme, we‘ve got to ensure. there is also another point: there were victims there that didn‘t have a conviction, but their files were late. i also believe they should have the support, because there is going to be nothing worse than hearing this daily, when they‘ve not been contacted, and they could be very frightened that they‘ll bump into him

in the street and whatever. we have got to have a thorough review now of seeing how we can look at victims on a discretionary basis. 0ne brief question — you say you spoke to presumably the justice secretary, david liddington. yes. did he give you any reassurance about changes that could be coming? the reassurance is that he knows he needs to look at that, and as i say, it was just one phone call. that doesn‘t mean to say that it‘s the end of it. when i go back on monday, there was something that i want to speak to his office, and his office are going to speak to mine. women in britain are paid on average 18% per hour less than men, according to figures released by large companies. at the airline easyjet women earn 52% less per hour than men. and at virgin money the gap is 33%. the company with the biggest gap to publish so far is the women‘s

clothing chain phase eight. the shop pays its women staff on average 65% less an hour than their male colleagues. with me is siobhan endean, national equality officer with the union unite. lovely to have you here. 65%! what do you make of figures like that? that is with phase eight. we know that is with phase eight. we know that the gender gap exists and we have been calling as a movement for a long time for transparent and fair pay systems. the best way you can get fair pay at work is to have collective bargaining and a system of pay where everybody knows what everybody else is getting. and it is really clear that you are being properly valued for the work that you do. that boosts staff morale and im proves you do. that boosts staff morale and improves organisations and

performance of the whole business. a fair business and unequal pay business is one that is better for oui’ business is one that is better for our uk economy. we work very closely with organisations who do tackle the gender pay gap. these figures are no surprise to us. what matters now is what organisations are going to do to close the gap. when you have put in discussions, may be representing members, what sort of reaction do you get? do they say, yes, of course, we will be more be more transparent, more disclosure? we tend to find that organisations that have positive industrial relations agenda is will work with us and they will give us gender pay gap and carry out audits on an annual basis, and they look at ways to close the 93p- and they look at ways to close the gap. that can take a range of measures. just looking at how you can invest in your own talent, how you can make sure that senior positions are available on a

part—time orjob share basis, and letting women know that if they apply to work in that organisation, they will be able to manage their long working hours and family responsibilities. there is a lot that organisations can do. it‘s not rocket science. working with their staff and talking to them, they can make sure that they put those measures in place. who are the worst offenders? i‘m talking about the sectors here. we have worked particularly with the finance sector. we have a lot of women in that sector, and there is a very clear gender pay gap. the human rights commission looked at that pay gap, largely because women are concentrated in the lower ends of the organisations, and there is a sticky floor. there need to be ——

there needs to be less gender stereotyping in work and women‘s work has to be valued for what it is. very often, catering, cleaning, caring, the work that women do is tragically and massively undervalued. if you look particularly at social care, the importance of the skills that they have in looking after our older people and our children, that is not valued by our economy. we keep hearing this. it would be nice to stop talking about it. thank you very much for your time. thank you. the headlines on bbc news: president trump insists he is a "very stable genius" — whilst the us secretary of state says he‘s never questioned mr trump‘s mental health. it follows claims in a book that people around the president doubted his fitness for office. the victims‘ commissioner calls for an overhaul of the parole system in the wake of the release of serial sex attackerjohn worboys. more than 500 major employers reveal their gender pay gaps.

easyjet, ladbrokes and virgin money are amongst those who have disclosed that they pay women, on average, at least 15 percent less than men. there are 20 5/3—round fa cup ties the day. middlesbrough have knocked out sunderland 2—0. fleetwood helped leicester to a goalless draw. the latest scores are on the bbc website. australia are in control after the third day of the final test in sydney. they lead england by 133 runs with six wickets in hand. and 16—year—old james bowen has become the youngest jockey to and 16—year—old james bowen has become the youngestjockey to win the welsh national. he rode the 16—1 outsider at chepstow this afternoon. a full update at around 5:30pm. see you then. two passengerjets have collided

on the ground at a toronto airport. one of the planes caught fire but there are no reports of serious injuries. it‘s the second such collision at toronto pearson international in five months. bill hayton reports. concern — but then panic... after the collision, fire breaks out. passengers begin to scream, while the crew call on them to remain seated. all of a sudden there was fuel all over the wing and then about a second or two later, not even a second, it‘s kind of all ignited and there was a big fireball, and then everyone started yelling and panicking. the fire was on the other, empty airliner, and all 168 passengers and six crew were able to leave this plane safely by the emergency slides. they had just arrived after a four—hour flight from mexico. their plane was stationary when it was hit by the other airliner, which was being towed

by ground crew. this is the second time in five months that planes have had minor collisions at canada‘s busiest airport. inquiries are under way into how it could have happened. in the meantime, all are thankful that everyone here escaped without serious injury. weather forecasters in the united states have warned that this weekend could bring record—breaking low temperatures in some parts of the north—east. the national weather service predicts wind chills as low as minus a0 degrees celsius. russell trott reports. the public coming to the aid of public transport on the streets of eastern boston, as snow and ice left many stranded. elsewhere in the city, the emergency services were working flat out, and in deep water, as high tides flooded roads close to the harbour. plummeting temperatures meant much of massachusetts was under huge quantities of snow.

and after a 3ft storm surge brought seas inland, the flood water froze, trapping cars in ice. for the homeless of chicago, life on the streets is now all about survival. those who do find shelter are happy to be anywhere but outside. we see an average of 700— 800 people every single day. sometimes there are people who come in when it‘s extremely cold who won‘t come in when it‘s not so cold. a sudden drop in temperatures can hit hard anywhere. in florida, where in some parts snow fell for the first time in 30 years, cold seas saw hundreds of turtles rescued after their muscles started seizing up. as thousands of snow ploughs are deployed throughout the eastern seaboard, forecasters warn that the weekend could bring record— breaking low temperatures. the department store house of fraser

has confirmed it‘s asking landlords to reduce the rent it pays for some of its shops. the group is set to release christmas retail figures next week, with some analysts suggesting its takings over the christmas period were disappointing. plans to improve the reading standards of children from deprived backgrounds have been announced by the department for education. there will be literary source —— literacy centres across england who will work with schools. here is elaine dunkley. closing the inequality gap in classrooms is key to giving every child the best start. research has shown that five—year—olds who struggle with language are six times less likely to reach the expected

standard in english at the age of 11 than those with good language skills. today, the government has launched literacy hubs, backed by £26 million of investment to improve standards in reading and writing, the idea, similar to one launched in 2014 formats, will enable high performing schools to share resources with those in deprived areas. it is about investing around the country, bringing together teachers and literacy specialists to improve standards and to make sure that no children fall behind. the plans also include a £5 million investment to improve vocabulary for children before they go to school in the north of england. labour says the north of england. labour says the funding will do nothing to change government cuts to school budgets. until now, cancer patients, many of them children, have had to go abroad to receive proton beam therapy — a highly advanced way of treating tumours. but by the end of the year the first nhs—run proton beam centre

will be up and running at the christie hospital in manchester. the multimillion pound project is nearing completion and our health correspondent dominic hughes has been to see it. you missed a hole, mum. six years ago, lucas was fighting for his life. diagnosed with cancer, he was sent to the united states to receive a potentially life—saving treatment called proton beam therapy. not being at home, being around strangers, it was awful. mum jodie says travelling all the way to the united states was a challenge for the family and with an immune system damaged by chemotherapy, lucas fell seriously ill and almost died. just being there on your own, it's a lot to be going through, just dealing with the cancer. you need your family and your friends around you, you need people to talk to. throughout that time, the support network of friends and family. it's a long period of time.

the treatment alone is six weeks. we found it really, really difficult. up till now, the nhs has sent patients who need proton beam therapy abroad and after years of campaigning and fundraising, it will soon be available in the uk. it‘s inside a specially built centre at christie hospital in manchester that medicine and physics meet, offering a new way to treat life—threatening cancers. young patients will benefits because their tissues are growing and very sensitive. is but there are also tumours which are next to quite critical structures in the body is the base of the skull or around the spine and this technology enables us to give a treatment dose to those patients while avoiding those critical structures. with standard radiotherapy, a beam travels through the tumour that can damage sensitive tissues in front, behind and around it. but proton beam is much smaller

and stops at the tumour, causing less damage to otherwise healthy tissue. we are now below what they call the treatment gantry where patients will be seen and this really is the guts of this huge 200 ton machine and it is one of three that are being built here in manchester. but down here, you really get a sense of the scale of this project. the protons, which come from the heart of an atom, are generated in a particle accelerator known as a cyclotron which is carefully lowered into place last summer, then travelling at a speed of 100,000 miles per second, they are directed with pinpoint accuracy at the tumour. put it on. six years on and lucas is cancer—free and full of beans. where are you putting it? with the manchester centre coming on stream later this year and a second one in london to follow, the hope is those needing the life—saving treatment proton

therapy will soon be able to access it closer to home. dominic hughes, bbc news, manchester. time for the latest weather prospects. here is louise lear. it has not been glorious for all. in structure, —— in shropshire... and is the wind will start to ease as we go through the night, with the exception of perhaps the south, where the cloud will linger longest. elsewhere, clearer skies and a frost forming, a hard frost in parts of rural scotland, and we will see temperatures as low as —10 celsius and may be lower in sheltered glens.

a cold start, but lighter winds and clear skies with plenty of sunshine on sunday. temperatures will peak at seven celsius in the south, but struggling to climb above freezing in parts of scotland. there will be more cloud developing as we go through the early half of next week. it stays cold for most. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: president trump insists he is a "very stable genius" and the us secretary of state says he‘s never questioned mr trump‘s mental health. it follows claims in a book that people around the president doubted his fitness for office. the victims‘ commissioner calls for an overhaul of the parole system in the wake of the release of serial sex attackerjohn worboys. more than 500 major employers reveal their gender pay gaps. easyjet, ladbrokes and virgin money are amongst those who have disclosed that they pay women on average at least 15% less than men. weather forecasters are warning

of record—breaking low temperatures panic and confusion as to planes collide at an airport in toronto. the passengers had to escape by emergency slides. no one was seriously injured. weather forecasters are warning of record—breaking low temperatures of minus 40 degrees celsius in northeast america. at least 19 people have died since a powerful blizzard hit much of the region on thursday. now on bbc news, it‘s dateline london. hello and a very warm welcome to dateline london.

i‘m jane hill. this week we look at the situation in iran after protests in many cities and we ask is president trump damaged by his former chief strategist‘s allegations of treason? my guests this week: bronwen maddox from the think tank the institute for government, previously with the times and the economist. the irish writer and broadcaster brian 0‘connell. the american writer and broadcaster michael goldfarb who also brings us the podcast frdh. and iranianjournalist and editor of kayhan—london nazenin ansari.